Harrisburg School District Board of Control members say a decision on a superintendent could come soon

View full sizeDAN GLEITER, The Patriot-News, fileHarrisburg School District Superintendent Gerald Kohn was released from his contract March 15, 2010, by the Harrisburg School District Board of Control. The board, composed of five members appointed by Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson and two elected officials, voted 5 to 2 to rescind the superintendent’s contract. As Kohn leaves John Harris High School, he is trailed by television cameras. With the ousting of Harrisburg schools Superintendent Gerald Kohn, Mayor Linda Thompson has begun to make her mark on the city schools, as she promised to do during her campaign. But removing former Mayor Stephen R. Reed’s handpicked superintendent was only the beginning.

Starting Monday night with Kohn’s ouster, the clock is ticking for Thompson to choose a replacement. And as the Education Empowerment Act approaches expiration June 30, that decision might come sooner rather than later. The act, which handed control of the schools to Harrisburg’s mayor in 2000, allows Thompson to influence the selection of a superintendent. Assistant Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney has been charged with running the district until that decision is made.

Ideally, a new superintendent would take over by the beginning of the next school year, said board member Corky Goldstein, who voted in favor of rescinding Kohn’s contract. That likely would require a decision before the Empowerment Act expires, he said. “Let’s say finalize that decision near the end of the school year, finalize it in the early summer,” Goldstein said. “So that person, whoever it’s going to be, can gear up.”

Board President Gloria Martin-Roberts said Monday night that her goal is to have the superintendent installed before the Empowerment Act expires. She did not respond to phone calls requesting comment on Tuesday.

As for the scope of the search the district should conduct, Goldstein said the board of control would defer to Thompson.

Martin-Roberts will meet with Thompson before the board’s next meeting to discuss the mayor’s strategy for the superintendent search, Goldstein said.

Michael Holmes, Thompson’s chief of staff, did not respond to a written request for comment Tuesday.

Lola Lawson, president of the district’s elected school board, said replacing the superintendent would require a national search, similar to the one that found Kohn. That’s going to take time, she said. “I want to see,” she said. “I want to do a national search. Surely, we are not going to stop anyone locally from applying. We don’t have a preference one way or another.”

Esther Edwards, who serves on the board of control and the elected board, said a local candidate might not be a bad idea. The perception of Kohn as an outsider hurt his credibility with the community, she said.

Most likely, Thompson already has someone in mind, Edwards said. “Usually when people make drastic changes, they know what they’re doing before they do it,” she said.

It’s not a decision to be rushed, Lawson said. The voters chose members of the elected board knowing they could regain control after the expiration of the Empowerment Act. They expect the elected officials to be part of the decision-making process, she said.

“I think [members of the board of control] need to stay out of that [selection of a superintendent],” Lawson said. “It’s three more months. I’m asking them to keep their hands off all major concerns for the district. Do what they have to do to keep it going and not lock us in.”

The board of control has a responsibility to make that decision, Goldstein said. But that doesn’t mean the elected board will be left in the dark. Two members of the elected board sit on the board of control, and Goldstein said he is not opposed to allowing additional members to participate in the vetting process, he said.

“It’s up to the entire board to make that decision, but I would have no problem with that,” Goldstein said. “I would also like to see the parents and other constituencies involved and have an opportunity to review that and to hear and to see and evaluate the new superintendent.”

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